


Hot Chocolate With Cinnamon

by Beehsknees



Series: Steven Universe [5]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-11-09 01:31:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11094084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beehsknees/pseuds/Beehsknees
Summary: “Hot chocolate please.” Amethyst asked.  “With cinnamon.” She added as an extra thought.





	1. The Black Eye

Amethyst pulled down her soaking wet hood as she entered her local coffee store. The store was located just outside of town down a side street, meaning not many people knew of it so it was barely ever busy. She didn’t come in here often – all of her money was spent on food at college so she could survive, so buying expensive fancy coffee was last on her list. But…she liked to come in here whenever she was feeling down. This place always seemed to lighten her moods. The cheery atmosphere, the cosy decorations, the soft music, and of course, the baristas who genuinely seemed interested in her. She had it a bit rough at college. She was a first year and pretty much no one wanted to get to know her. Amethyst liked her tutor – a large woman with an afro and tattoos on each hand, but her classmates? A different story. Usually she kept out of their way and they kept out of hers, but today was different. She came out of her class and saw someone picking on a girl in her class. She was a second year, but looked about twelve. Her blonde hair stood on end, her glasses were large and she had a birthmark on her forehead which people teased her for. She actually seemed like a nice person, but the girl was so shy she never spoke to anyone, besides the tall girl with blue hair Amethyst saw passing through the halls every now and then.  


A large girl with white hair had squared up to the smaller girl, looking ready to start stuff. Amethyst had seen this girl before – Jasper? And she knew she had a record of hurting people. Amethyst, feeling particularly brave and coming out of her shell for once, shouted over to the girl, expecting her to leave once she was confronted. Amethyst was wrong. Which is how she ended up with a black eye forming on the left side of her face and a bruised stomach area. It wasn’t too bad, nothing broken, and teachers had time to interject before Amethyst was seriously injured. But still. Black eyes hurt like a motherfucker and made her look gross.  


“Good afternoon, what can I get for you?” The woman at the till asked, not looking up from the counter as she wrote something down. As she looked up, she gasped at the bruised girl in front of her.  


“Oh gosh, what happened to your eye? We need to get some ice on that, quick. Uh, Sapphire?”  


“On it.”  


Amethyst was rushed to a booth and sat down, the barista next to her with the packet of ice in her hand wrapped in a towel. She placed it on the customers face and let her hold it.  


“That looks painful… Oh! Let me get you your drink. What are you having?”  


“Hot chocolate please.” Amethyst asked. “With cinnamon.” She added as an extra thought. This was the drink she got whenever she felt down in the dumps, and she certainly deserved it right now. It was nice that the barista cared about her though. That barista…she was cute. Peach coloured hair framed her face and she had a ballerina’s body. Although her apron covered her outfit, Amethyst could see pastel colours draped around her. She was definitely cute. Then again, she might just be saying that because she was nice to her. Amethyst wasn’t too used to people being nice to her. Especially after the events of the morning.  


“Here you go! One hot chocolate with cinnamon!” The barista placed the drink down carefully on the table along with napkins. Amethyst glanced down at the drink and couldn’t help but grin. The barista had drawn a smiley face on the drink with the cinnamon. That actually cheered her up a bit. As she left to take someone else’s order, Amethyst made sure to check her name badge. Pearl. 

It was near closing time when Amethyst finally left. She wasn’t really in the mood to go home and none of the people who worked there seemed bothered by her presence. Once she finally went to leave, Amethyst waved goodbye to the people working there, taking an extra moment to smile to Pearl. Pearl smiled back and waved gently before pouring a drink. The doorbell rang as she left.


	2. Sweet Dreams

“Dude. Your eye. Fucking hell.” Amethyst’s roommate looked unimpressed once she saw the swollen purple area.

“Yeah, yeah, save me the lecture Vid.” Her roommate was a few years older than her in university. She majored in Art, so their house was littered with paintings, big and small. Pretty much everything had paint on it. The TV, the sofa, the fridge, hell even when Vidalia cooked there could sometimes be paint left on the beef. 

“How’d it happen?” Amethyst groaned at her questions and flopped down on the sofa, taking off her hoodie and relaxing into the cushions.

“Girl was getting picked on so I told the bully to fuck off. They…didn’t fuck off.” Vidalia smirked and perched on the arm of the sofa.

“I can tell. Where were you all afternoon? It’s like… six now, and I know you didn’t spend that time at college.” Vidalia knew Amethyst too well.

“Heh, nah. I was hanging out at the coffee shop.” 

“For three and a half hours?”

“Yeah. There was a new barista there. She seems chill.” Vidalia grinned and shuffled up next to Amethyst, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“Oh?” Amethyst rolled her eyes at the reaction, stifling a snicker.

“C’mon Vidalia. Nothing’s gonna come of it. I mean, for one she’s /way/ outta my league...” Vidalia grabbed her cheeks and shushed her.

“Ame. You are beautiful. You’re gorgeous! Any girl would be lucky to have you!” The silver haired girl couldn’t help but blush.

“D’aw. Thanks, Vi. I’m glad I live with you. I think I’d die without you.” She grinned in response and cuddled up to her friend, turning on the TV.

“Hell yeah you would. You’d probably end up eating months old food and end up in hospital.”  


They sat together for hours and watched re-runs of their favourite show – Little Butler. Amethyst used to watch this show all the time when she was younger, and had managed to get Vidalia hooked on it as well. Vidalia had ended up falling asleep after around four episodes, whilst Amethyst had stayed awake with her thoughts.

She liked Pearl. That much was obvious. Even though Vidalia teased her, she did it with good meaning. Amethyst was lonely. Yeah sure, in a perfect world Amethyst would just storm in there and ask the girl on a date, she’d say yes and they’d fall in love and drink coffee together for eternity. But it wasn’t a perfect world. Amethyst would be more than satisfied if they became friends, and that was it. She seemed like a nice person. Someone who was there for people, someone who had love in her heart and wanted to be nice to other people. Someone Amethyst wished she was like.  
With a sigh, she lowered the volume on the TV and settled down to sleep. It was like, four in the morning but thankfully it was a Saturday tomorrow so it didn’t matter if she slept in. Going to sleep was kind of hard when all she could feel was the aching of her eye, and she wished she had some painkillers on her, but for now she had to suffer. It took her a while to drift off to sleep, but once she did, she had a surprisingly nice dream about a girl and a coffee shop.

She awoke in the morning with a groan. Her eye definitely felt worse than before but she still hadn't seen what it looked like. Stumbling sleepily into the kitchen, she flipped the kettle on and made some cereal. Vidalia didn't seem to be about, but that was no surprise. She was an early bird - first to rise, first to sleep. Usually she spent her weekends hanging out at the dock with her new boyfriend. He was nice. Amethyst had only met him once but he gave off good vibes. Vidalia's last boyfriend was horrible, and if Amethyst ever saw the man again she'd punch him in the jaw.  
Once she'd made a cup of tea and her cereal, she settled down at the kitchen table and opened up Facebook, scrolling through it aimlessly. It was all crap really. Politics this, boring that, blah blah blah. She was about to close the app when she saw a familiar face on her 'suggested friends' list. 

"No way." Amethyst was surprised and put down her spoon, clicking on her profile to snoop. 'One mutual friend: Peridot'. Wait, wasn't that the short blonde girl in her class? Damn. If she knew Pearl, she might have to get to know her better in hopes that they were good friends and could put in a few good words for Amethyst.  


God. What was she thinking? She sounded like a total dork right now. Amethyst closed the app and put her phone down, finishing her breakfast and deciding to spend the rest of the day in bed.


	3. New Friend

Beep. Beep. Beep. The alarm would not shut up chirping. Amethyst let out a loud groan and attempted to smash the alarm into submission, which didn’t work naturally. Begrudgingly, she sat up and turned it off, now fully awake. Pushing her hair out of her eyes, it was 8:42. Shit. She was late. Class started at nine but she still had to get ready, eat breakfast and play videogames…meh. She was going to be very late today.

Rocking up to class forty five minutes late, she handed her disgruntled tutor a late slip and sat down, pulling out her work books. The lesson was a study lesson, which meant no one was taking it seriously and everyone was just talking. Amethyst began doodling on her work instead of actually studying because she was still tired and did not give a fuck about this subject. She only chose engineering because she thought this would help her build cool robots. Turned out engineering is a /lot/ harder than she thought it would be. 

Throughout the lesson, Amethyst had noticed a certain small girl staring at her. But every time she turned to look at her, the girl turned her head away quickly and acted like she was really interested in looking at the clock. After about twenty minutes of this, Amethyst sighed and turned around, addressing her.

“Yo. Stop staring man, it’s freaky.” A nasally voice came from the girl as she pushed up her glasses.

“Oh, uh, sorry.” As the silver haired girl turned around, the shrill voice spoke up again.

“It’s Amethyst, right? Uh…Thanks for saving my butt yesterday. Jasper has like, a personal vendetta against me, so it was nice to not get beaten up for a change. Sorry about your eye…” Amethyst shrugged.

“No prob, Bob. Anything to help.” The conversation ended and they were left in silence. They had said too much to just turn around and go back to their work, but neither knew what to say. Peridot cleared her throat and spoke, getting sick of the silence.

“So… How do you like the class? I know you’re kind of new here.”

“Oh. It’s…great?” Peridot shot her a look of ‘I know you’re lying’. She looked unimpressed. Amethyst frowned and crossed her arms, leaning back on her chair.

“Fine. It’s boring and I don’t understand anything. Like…there’s so much maths! I thought engineering was making lasers and robots! Where are the lasers and robots?!” The blonde girl let out a giggle and pushed up her glasses.

“If you’re struggling I can always help you. I can give you lessons in exchange for…” She raised a brow and waited for the girl to finish her sentence.

“For…?” Amethyst nudged her on.

“For being my friend?” Peridot blushed and rushed out her words. She sounded like a total loser saying that, but Amethyst was grateful she said that. It’d be nice to have a new friend, and Peridot seemed pretty cool. Also, she did kinda owe her since she got a black eye saving her butt.

“Sure thing! Hey can you do tonight? We have a test tomorrow and the only thing I can fill out is my name.” Peridot grinned and shook her hand to finalise the ‘deal’. They swapped phone numbers so they could get in contact easier, and Peridot wrote down her address.

“Thanks for letting me go to yours. My place is a mess. Also my roommate is in the middle of painting her final piece and you don’t want to be in the same room as her when she gets that passion for painting.” They both laughed and chatted idly for the rest of the lesson. They both surprisingly had a lot in common – mostly the fact that they were both billy-no-mates and were really small. Amethyst liked hanging out with Peridot, but she loved teasing her even more.

“Hey, what’s this?” Amethyst had peeked into her bag and pulled out a small alien plush.

“Give it back!” Peridot raised her voice and grabbed the green toy, clutching it to her chest. In response, Amethyst raised an amused brow.

“Woah, take a chill pill dude. I was just asking what it was.”

“He’s kind of like a comfort blanket. I like to feel his fur and it helps me.” The silver haired girl nodded in response and laid back on her chair. They chatted for a few more minutes before the bell rang and signalled class is over.

“See you tonight Amethyst!” Peridot shouted as she waved to her before running over to hug the blue haired hipster girl. Amethyst watched them with slight jealously. ‘God, I wish that were me.’  


Amethyst opened her phone and tapped on the recently added contact, ‘Peridot xD’. (Peridot had put her name in, not Amethyst.) She then wrote out a text.

‘That ur gf?’ Near immediate response.

‘WE’RE JUST FRIENDS!’ Another text came.

‘No, we’re dating.’ Amethyst snickered. She guessed the other girl had taken the phone off of Peridot. Probably by holding up high so Peridot couldn’t jump up for it and reach it.  


She slipped her phone in her pocket and packed her stuff away, heading to a local fast food joint to get some food before she went to Peridot’s later that evening.


	4. Studying Hard

Amethyst turned up on time (for once), pressing the doorbell and hearing the ringing noise inside. There was a barking noise and soon she heard the clicks of the door being unlocked, then Peridot opening the door.

“Welcome! Sorry about the mess. Also sorry about my dog Pumpkin, she gets excited when there’s new guests.” Amethyst bent down to pet the small, slightly ginger puppy and she gave her a joyous lick on the face. Amethyst couldn’t help but grin as she stood up, following Peridot up to her room.

“Mom’s asleep downstairs so we can work from my room. It’s a little small but it’s cosy!” Peridot lead her up the stairs through her house. The house was cute and small, but had inspirational quotes plastered all over the walls. It was kind of cheesy, but also really sweet. Once they came to Peridot’s room, Amethyst immediately noticed the ‘DO NOT ENTER’ sign on her door, along with hundreds of tiny stickers all along the door and door frame. Peridot noticed her staring and blushed.

“I really like collecting things. When I was a kid I collected stickers and put them all over my door. They…don’t come off.” Amethyst smirked. 

“They add charm.” The blonde smiled and opened the door to her room. Wow, she wasn’t lying when she said it was small. It probably looked smaller than it was however because it was full of lots of things. On her windowsill there were an array of succulents. Scattered over her desk were screws and nails and bits of metal, with a toolbox sitting on the floor next to it. Hung from the ceiling were model aircraft that looked to be handmade, and on one wall there was a giant cork board with pictures all over.

“I’m going to get us some drinks. Make yourself at home!” As Peridot disappeared, Amethyst couldn’t help but snoop about. Her room had so much character. And it was messy-neat. Like, it was messy but still looked neat and nice. Unlike Amethyst’s room, which was just messy. She wandered over to the desk and saw a bunch of plans drawn up for a variety of different projects. There was also a toaster on the side as well. It didn’t look like it was used for toasting bread though as it had been taken apart. It looked kind of sad in a way. 

“Relatable.” She mumbled to herself before flicking one of the model airplanes in the air, watching it dance gently before going back to resting as per normal. God, Peridot was taking her time, wasn’t she? She then wandered over to the cork board, skimming over all of the pictures. There were many of a young, even nerdier looking Peridot posing with various awards from science fairs and such, a few of her and her girlfriend, but one caught her eye. It was a picture of Peridot and the barista she liked! They were posed with their backs against each other with electronic drills in their hands. It seemed to be cut out of a newspaper, and the headline read:

 

“BEACH CITY’S FINEST.  
Teenagers Peridot and Pearl from a local high school broke a school record by building a fully functional model spaceship. Although they had plans to build the full scale version of it, Beach City officials said it would not be in the best interest to do that as it would be expensive and unnecessary. However, for their amazing contribution to society, both girls have been given a grant of $1000 and an award so they can continue inventing and prospering.” 

 

The door opened and closed, startling Amethyst as she turned around. Peridot had a large jug of lemonade and two cups in her hands, and a bag of popcorn in her teeth. Placing them down on the tiny bit of room on her desk, she walked over and glanced to the picture Amethyst was staring it.

“Oh, I remember this! She and I used to be really good friends, until…” Amethyst frowned. Until? Until what?

“Until what?”

“I don’t know. She started dating this girl and she changed a lot. Never spent time with me anymore. It was all ‘Rose this!’ and ‘Rose that!’ It got really annoying so I just stopped talking to her. I haven’t seen her in a while actually.” Amethyst felt her heart drop into a million pieces and shatter everywhere. Ugh, how could she be so stupid?! Of course a girl like that had a girlfriend! Amethyst knew she never stood a chance in the first place.

“So shall we begin?” Peridot clapped her hands together. “I was thinking we start with basic electronic components and work from there.” Amethyst would now rather die than do anything but she appreciated Peridot’s enthusiasm for this. So they both sat down on the bed and began working. It actually began to help her keep her mind off of…you know who. Although electronic components was really boring, Amethyst actually began learning something! For the first time she was actually learning about engineering and wasn’t sleeping through it! It was actually quite a good achievement. 

She ended up leaving around half nine, as Peridot had a bed time which she liked to stick to. 

“It’s not a curfew, and my mom didn’t set it! But if I go to bed at this time I get the right amount of hours of sleep for my body to function properly.” She explained herself, but Amethyst just laughed. Then again, she was kind of jealous. Actually having a sleep schedule must feel pretty good. They said their goodbyes and exchanged a quick hug (and a lovely wet kiss from Pumpkin) and Amethyst set off walking home. The neighbourhood was pretty safe so she wasn’t too bothered about taking the twenty minutes to walk home. Also, the weather was quite nice. There was a chilly breeze but it was still warm and peaceful.  


Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Her phone rang in her pocket and she pulled it out, seeing a very unflattering picture of Vidalia pop up on screen. She swiped and answered it.

“Sup?”

“Where you at? I wanted to watch Lil’ Butler but it felt wrong to watch it without you.” Vidalia was loyal.

“I’m just walking home, I’ll be like fifteen minutes. I was studying at a friend’s house.” Amethyst had to pull the phone away from her ear as all she could hear for a solid minute was loud cackling. Once Vidalia had calmed down, she began speaking again.

“Hang on, hang on. You? Studying? And since when have you got a new friend? You been keeping secrets, eh?” 

“She’s the girl I ended up getting a black eye for. She’s pretty cool, knows loads about engineering and stuff. And get this! Went to high school with the cute barista.” Amethyst heard a loud ‘Ooooh!’ from Vidalia.

“Maybe you’ll have to go undercover and get more details out of her.” Amethyst suddenly remembered what Peridot had actually said about Pearl and deflated.

“Nah. Apparently the barista has a girlfriend.” The phone was silent for a second. Vidalia knew she was probably feeling like shit because of this.

“That sucks… Tell you what, get yourself home and I’ll buy some wine and we can have a little two person party.” Amethyst couldn’t help but smile at the offer. Vidalia knew how to cheer her up.

“Deal. I’ll be there in ten.”

Click.


	5. Go Time

“Hey Vi, you want to come get coffee with me? I have a hangover and feel like shit.” Vidalia looked up from the newspaper she was reading, looking sceptical.

“I thought you-know-you worked there?” Amethyst rolled her eyes at the nickname Vidalia had given the barista.

“Not on Tuesdays.” Vidalia squinted.

“Why do you know that?”

“I go there a lot, ok! Don’t judge me.” Vi snickered and nodded, getting up to grab her stuff. Amethyst ran into her room to get changed. Even though she knew Pearl wouldn’t be there, she still dressed up nice just in case. Well, as nice as she could manage. That meant a purple crop top, leggings and her faux leather jacket that was pretty beaten up. Vidalia came out a few moments later with a basic tee on, cropped pants and a large cardigan on. Amethyst snickered.

“God, you look like /such/ a mom right now.” Vidalia smiled.

“I feel like it, too.” They’d found out she was pregnant a few weeks ago, and she was pretty far along. Sadly it was from her ex, but she and yellowtail had talked about it and they decided t keep it and raise it as their own. It kind of scared Amethyst, how her best friend was growing up so quickly and she was still crushing on girls she didn’t have a chance with. It made her really depressed, but also made her want to kick her ass in gear and do adult stuff. Mostly depressed though.

They soon arrived at the familiar coffee shop and she breathed in the familiar musky scent as she opened the door, the bell ringing to notify the staff of their presence. Taking a quick glance around, Amethyst was glad she didn’t see any peachy-haired women in uniform today. They walked up to the till and the short girl with long light blue hair served them. She was an interesting character. She only had one eye and had a white patch over her other one constantly. Amethyst was desperate to know what happened but she knew better than to just ask. The girl always seemed to be one step ahead as well. For example, once she saw Amethyst she already began typing in a hot chocolate with cinnamon. Then again, Amethyst came in /a lot/ so it didn’t surprise her that she’d learnt her order by now. 

“Hi, I’ll have a peppermint tea, please.” Vidalia ordered, a hand on her stomach. She knew she wasn’t supposed to have caffeine, so she went for a gentle cup of herbal tea instead of something harsh like an espresso. Although Vidalia didn’t care about many things, she did care about this baby. As they waited for their drinks to be made, Amethyst saw peach hair pop out of the back room carrying a bunch of boxes. Fuck.

“That’s her.” Amethyst whispered to Vidalia, who was previously in the middle of talking about how Yellowtail had said the cutest thing to her. She stopped mid sentence and glanced towards who they were talking about.

“Aw. She’s cute.” 

“And apparently not single.” Vidalia rolled her eyes and continued her story, obviously already over Amethyst’s crush at this point. But Ame couldn’t help and continue to stare. Pearl had about three large boxes she was trying to carry to behind the counter, and she looked ready to topple at any point. Amethyst walked over, leaving Vidalia, to talk to her.

“Need any help?” Pearl jumped at the voice and spun around, seeing a slightly familiar face. She didn’t have time to work out who it was however, as she was about to collapse under the boxes.

“Oh, yes please!" Amethyst took two of the boxes and let out a huff. God, these were heavy. But nothing she couldn’t handle!

“Jeez! What’s in these things?” Pearl giggled at her question.

“Lots of different types of syrup and toppings. We’re getting ready to change the menu for summer. Lots of iced drinks and stuff like that. I’m really excited actually.” Amethyst nodded at her as she spoke, feeling the little butterflies in her stomach again. She knew it was pointless, but her flirtatious instincts began taking over. 

“Ooh, sounds good. I’ll have to come in more to try them all. And to see you of course.” Pearl nearly tripped over her own feet as she heard that, getting a grip on her box so she didn’t drop it.

“Oh! Um, yes, of course.” Once she reached the counter, they placed the boxes down and suddenly Pearl remembered where she’d seen her.

“Your eye!” 

“Huh?” Amethyst asked, confused for a second.

“How’s your eye? I remember it being bruised.” Ah. The silver haired girl brushed her hair away from her and showed her. It was healing pretty well, only a slight bit of swelling underneath now. Nothing a little bit of makeup couldn’t fix.

“Doin’ better. I can see again so that’s nice.” Pearl giggled and began unpacking the boxes. Amethyst was vaguely aware of her name being called by Vidalia as their drinks were ready. She had to act now. This may be the only time she’d ever get to ask her out.   
Grabbing a pen from across the counter, Amethyst scribbled down her number on a napkin.

“Hey. You seem cool. We should hang sometime.” She had to stop herself from screaming 'YOU'RE CUTE LET'S DATE' to her. It was hard. Pearl again could only blush as Amethyst turned and walked back to her friend who held her drink. As they left the shop, she couldn’t help but look over her shoulder and saw Pearl staring at the number, her cheeks red. 

“Dude, what are you thinking?!” Vidalia went off as soon as they left the shop. Amethyst simply rolled her eyes, trying to tune her out.

“I thought you said she had a girlfriend! Are you /trying/ to be a homewrecker?!” She huffed.

“If she was uncomfortable she would have said! I respect people’s boundaries and she seemed to be fine with me being like that.” Vidalia went to retaliate, but said nothing.

“That’s…a good point actually.” They walked home and discussed what happened in that shop. Amethyst was pumped on adrenaline – she had fully expected Pearl to punch her in the face or something. Wouldn’t be the first time, ha. 

For the first time, Amethyst genuinely felt happy. She was hopeful.


	6. A Good Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hey it's ya boi, finally adding another chapter on as I've finally come out of writers block.

It had been a few weeks since Amethyst had been to the coffee shop. It wasn’t that she was totally nervous about seeing /her/ again (it was), but she was coming up to her final exams for the year and she really needed to pass. If she didn’t, it meant either dropping out and having to find somewhere else to go, or actually getting a job. Both of which sounded terrible. Thankfully Peridot had been helping her out with studying as much as she can, but there was only so much the small girl could teach her. 

This had led to countless days wherein Amethyst had pulled all-nighters, papers and textbooks surrounding her as she tried to catch up on all she had missed throughout the year. Although she seemed pretty dumb, she could do a lot once she put her mind to it. Sadly, she hadn’t received a single text from Pearl yet. She’d hope that Pearl would text in the next few days, but after a week passed by… She let her hopes down. Vidalia was there to comfort her when she got upset about it but there wasn’t much she could do. So because of that, she’d partially been avoiding going to the shop. But this morning felt different. Perhaps it was because she’d been drinking nothing but red bull and black coffee, but she felt confident today. 

Glancing at the clock and rubbing her eyes, Amethyst realised it was only half past 6. Pretty early. Did the shop even open at this time? Eh, oh well. She could wait outside until it did. The weather was warm. Crawling out of her nest, she went over to the dresser and pulled out some clothes for the day. Black bra, white top that had a sloping strap, leggings and doc martins. (Well, knock off doc martins as the real ones were way too expensive for a broke girl like her to afford. Vidalia was lucky and had a boyfriend who bought her nice things, so she had recently got a shining pair of daisy docs. Safe to say, Amethyst was jealous.) Tying her hair back into a messy ponytail, she grabbed her bag and headed out. There was no need telling Vidalia she was leaving as she was sound asleep in bed. Luckily her roommate had finished for the term and didn’t have any more work to do, so she could sleep in as much as she wanted. Amethyst was jealous of that too.

She was a few blocks away from the shop when she heard the shrill voice behind her shouting her name.

“Oh, Amethyst!” Pearl jogged up to catch up with her, holding onto her purse as she ran.

“Fancy seeing you here.” Amethyst grunted in response. She was ecstatic to see her, but also still peeved that she didn’t text her back.

“I hope you’re coming in today. You haven’t visited in a while.” Pearl glanced down at Amethyst and frowned.

“Oh dear, you look so tired…” The shorter girl laughed warily, shrugging.

“Yeah, I might as well pop in. And I’ve been pulling late nighters, got big exams coming up and I know nothing.” 

“And what are your exams on?” Amethyst shrugged.

“Engineering-y stuff.” Pearl practically lit up at that, clasping her hands together.

“Well believe it or not but I know quite a bit about engineering.” Amethyst knew this from what Peridot had said, but didn’t mention that.

“Oh, yeah? Heh, we should have a study date sometime then.” Once the words came out of her mouth, Amethyst blushed a little, hiding her bashfulness with her thick fringe. Pearl let out a squeak in response and glanced away.

“Well…I suppose. If you need the help, I can spare a hand. You can come over…after work today. I know it’s sudden but…Well, I do love engineering!” Pearl tried not to stutter through her words as she invited her over to her house. Amethyst tried to play it cool.

“Cool…Cool, cool, cool, cool…Cool. Yeah. Chill. Let’s…Yeah. Sounds cool.” Pearl giggled and noticed they were outside the coffee shop. Opening the door, she gestured for Amethyst to go through first.   
Once they were both in, Pearl went behind the counter and grabbed an apron, tying it behind her. 

“Woah. Where’s the other staff?” Pearl logged into the till and shrugged.  
“Ruby and Sapphire are my bosses, but they usually just sit in the backroom and chat together. They’ll help out when it’s busy but…” She shrugged.

“Ah. Are they like, sisters or something?” Pearl let out a shrill laugh.

“Oh, heavens no! They’re dating. They opened the shop together a few years ago.” Amethyst smiled at that.

“Aw, that’s cute.” They stood there silently for a second before Pearl let out a gasp.

“Oh! Sorry. What can I get for you today?” Amethyst did the usual thing of stare at the menu for a solid minute before deciding to get what she always does.

“Hot chocolate with cinnamon, please.” Pearl nodded and Amethyst went to sit in a booth in the corner, pulling out her phone and scrolling through it. She had banned herself from going on any social media apps as it distracted her from studying so it felt like a relief to finally be able to see Facebook again. The first thing she noticed was one friendship request and a pending message request. Opening the friendship request, she noticed it was Pearl and she added her immediately. Then she opened the message and practically face palmed herself. The message read,

‘Hello!   
Sorry to bother you, Amethyst. 

I broke my phone at work when I dropped it into a blender. Stupid, I know! I was startled. In fairness, it was my own fault for texting at work. Due to this error, I cannot text you. I hope Facebook messenger will suffice.

Yours affectionately,

Pearl.’ 

God, Amethyst was such an idiot! The reason Pearl didn’t text her was because she couldn’t! And Amethyst had spent this entire time getting mad at her when she should have just checked her messages. Still, she’d just have to apologise to Pearl once she came over with her drink. Reading over the message, Amethyst couldn’t help but laugh. What a narc, writing it like it was a formal letter. However, she couldn’t help but read those last three words over and over again. ‘Yours affectionately,’ what did that mean? Could that mean she had feelings for her? Pft, of course not. It probably meant nothing. Just as she was about to go over the message and over analyse it, Pearl came over with two large cups on a tray and a brownie. 

“I hope you don’t mind if I sit with you. Nobody comes in at this time usually, so I thought I’d have a quick drink.” She sat down opposite her and smiled, delicately lifting the cup from her hands and sniffing in before letting out a sigh. Amethyst glanced down at her hot chocolate and couldn’t help the smile on her face. Pearl had drawn a flower on the top of her drink with the cinnamon. What a cutie. 

“Not to be biased, but I think the coffee here is the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.” Amethyst chuckled at her remark and put her phone down, twiddling her thumbs together. Pearl was quick to pick up on this and placed her drink down carefully.

“Is everything okay Amethyst? Are you nervous about your exam?” Whenever she said her name, Amethyst got shivers. She shrugged in response and took a sip of her drink, picking out her words before speaking.

“I only just saw your Facebook message, sorry dude!” Pearl looked up and seemed to sigh in relief at that. Perhaps she also thought Amethyst was ignoring her as well?

“Oh! It’s fine, don’t worry.” They both smiled sheepishly to each other and went on to silently sip their drinks before Pearl stopped.

“You can have some of the brownie, by the way. They’re a little too sweet for me. Don’t worry, I won’t charge.” Pearl winked before taking another sip of her drink, refusing to make eye contact after what she just did. Amethyst couldn’t do anything but stare at her with an open mouth. Where did this side of Pearl come from?! Albeit, she didn’t know that much about Pearl but that seemed very out of character. Pearl heard the bell of a new customer entering and quickly finished her drink.

“Ahem, anyway. I finish my shift at 2:30. Meet here and we can walk to my house. I only live five minutes away. Goodbye!” Pearl took her empty cup and went back behind the counter to serve the new customer, leaving Amethyst on her own. Even though she was only a few steps away, the booth suddenly felt empty. From her spot, Amethyst could only see the top of her peachy hair bobbing about as she made the customer’s drink. 

It wasn’t long before Amethyst finished her drink. She’d also eaten the brownie, after a long time of debating whether she really should or not. After all, it was Pearl’s, and Amethyst hadn’t paid for it. But on the other hand, Pearl said she could have it and who was she to refuse free food? 

Finishing up her drink, she stood up and glanced over at Pearl who seemed swamped. It was around the time where everyone came in for their morning coffees before work. As Amethyst stood up, she left a tip and went to leave. Glancing back as she opened the door, Pearl managed to do a little wave in between serving customers. Amethyst waved back and left. 

“God. I hope the owners come and help her soon, or she’ll be swept off of her feet.” Amethyst stretched her arms and glanced up at the glorious sun, a grin on her face.


	7. The Kiss

“Your backpack is a cheeseburger?” Amethyst had been sat waiting outside the coffee shop for twenty minutes (she, for once, had come early for something) and had her earphones in before hearing the bell of the door behind her. Pearl had taken off her work apron but was left in a button down white shirt and tight pants. Her sleeves were rolled up and her hair tucked behind her ears, as the weather was quite warm.

“Ch, yeah. What else would it be?” Pearl glanced back to the obnoxious backpack and then to Amethyst, eyebrows raised.

“Alright then… Follow me.” Pearl began walking with quick strides to her house and Amethyst had to jog to catch up with her.

“Hey, wait up! I got short legs!” Once she caught up, Pearl realised that and slowed her walk down so they could walk side by side. They walked in silence for a moment; with Amethyst’s hands shoved in her pockets and Pearl staring straight ahead and refusing to be distracted. Amethyst cleared her throat.

“So….How’d you get a job at that place?” Pearl snapped out of her focus and glanced down to her.

“Oh, the coffee shop? Well I know the owners there and they knew I was looking for work, so.” 

“Nice, nice. I wish getting a job was that easy for me. Then again….I hate working so.” She stretched out her arms over her head and chuckled. Pearl tutted.

“Well, I suppose that explains why you need tutoring then.” The smaller girl glanced at her with an open mouth.

“Woah, don’t be sassing me now girly, I work hard! At…other things.” Pearl arched an eyebrow, looking amused.

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Amethyst stopped short and hesitated, trying to think of what she actually tried hard at.

“Making breakfast in the morning. Oh! And rubix cubes!”

“Mhmm.” Pearl seemed smug that she’d won this round. Amethyst huffed in response and pulled her backpack tighter, glancing around as they walked into a posh looking neighbourhood. It made her feel kind of ashamed of the shabby place she lived. The houses around here had gates and fountains and even stylised bushes! Amethyst once found a dead squirrel in her mailbox. 

“Jeez Pearl, how can you afford to live around here when you work at a coffee shop?” Pearl glanced down to her.  
“Well my parents were quite wealthy, so I inherited their house and half of their money. I used to share it with my sisters but they both moved out.” The small girl arched an interested brow.

“Sisters, huh? I figured you’d be an only child.” Pearl chuckled and shook her head.

“Oh, heavens no! I have two sisters – blue and yellow. So, nicknamed because of their hair colours. Yellow is the oldest and /such/ a brat. Blue is youngest and was quite sweet, but she moved away last year to do veterinary care across the country.” Amethyst nodded as she listened. That explained a lot about Pearl. She was a middle child, which always sucked. It usually meant trying harder and pushing yourself to be outstanding at everything you do to get noticed by your parents. Amethyst used to be like that, but her parents stopped caring a long time ago, so she stopped caring too. 

“-And what about you?” The girl looked up with a blink as Pearl addressed her.

“Oh, me? Uh, I’m an only child. I never met my parents so I moved around from home to home. Finally got sick of it and moved in with my pal Vidalia, it’s all good.” Amethyst placed her hands behind her head as she stretched, acting like it didn’t bother her. Of course, it did actually bother her but she never let it on. Pearl could see through her lies though; however, she didn’t want to push such a sensitive subject at the time being. Before she had chance to say something, she realised they were at her house. Walking up the steps, she pushed the keys through the door and unlocked it. 

“Please, make yourself at home – oh take your shoes off first though, please. There’s snacks in the fridge. I’ll get us some drinks.” Amethyst kicked off her boots and went to sit in the living room, chucking her backpack on the floor. She glanced around the room with an arched brow and whistled.

“Fancy place.” There was a large TV screen hanging off the wall with a fancy fireplace underneath it and beautifully framed photos stood atop the fireplace. Being the nosy girl, she was, Amethyst wandered over to look at them. They were mainly family photos of Pearl and her family throughout her life. Amethyst snickered at a baby photo of Pearl – she used to have a massive forehead! At least she grew into it now. As she moved along the wall, she noticed one photo frame that was pressed down so the picture couldn’t be seen. Picking it up, it showed a picture of Pearl and a tall chubby lady with locks of bright pink hair. Pearl sat on her knee and they both had ice creams, grinning at the camera with a carefree look. As Amethyst picked up the photo frame, a piece of paper slipped out from the back and fluttered to the floor. She bent down and grabbed it, unfolding it and reading through the note.

 

‘My dearest Pearl,

Sorry to have disappeared so suddenly last night. I didn’t want to make any more of a fuss. 

I understand how you’re feeling, and you know I love you so much! But I love him too. I knew you’d be upset when I told you I was moving; however, I didn’t anticipate this much of a reaction. Because of that, I didn’t get to tell you the good news. I’m pregnant! Greg and I are having a little baby! We don’t know the sex yet, but that doesn’t matter. We’ve come up with ‘Steven’ if it’s a boy, and ‘Nora’ if it’s a girl. Greg really wanted ‘Pearl’ to be an option, but I wanted to check with you first. 

I hope you understand and will come and see us soon. 

Love, Rose.’

 

As Amethyst finished reading the letter, a shrill gasp was heard behind her and the shattering of glass came after.

“DON’T TOUCH THAT.” Pearl ran towards her and snatched the note from her, holding it to her chest and smoothing out any wrinkles. Amethyst gulped, knowing she’d meddled too far this time.

“Pearl, I-I’m sorry, it just fell out of the photo.” Pearl turned away from her and gripped the letter, letting out a shaky sigh.

“…It’s fine, just please don’t go through my stuff.” It was silent for a few moments before Amethyst reached out, touching Pearl’s shoulder.

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to upset you or anything, I was just curious…” She saw the taller woman wipe her eyes and turn around, putting the letter back on the fireplace.

“It’s fine, you didn’t upset me. Take a seat.” Pearl quickly cleaned up the broken glass from the floor and sat next to Amethyst, pulling out her phone.

“Since we’re friends, it’s only fair you know about me. That woman was my…ex-girlfriend. We had dated for years, and were best friends. We did everything together, we were inseparable.” She passed her phone to Amethyst and let her scroll through a photo album full of selfies of Pearl and Rose. 

“The day I met her, I knew I loved her. She had such a big heart, she loved everybody. But she loved me the /most/. Well, until he came along.” The bitter tone in her voice split the air, and Amethyst swiped onto a photo of Rose and Greg sat on a bench together, with Pearl shoved to the edge like a third wheel.

“Rose had such a big heart. She loved everybody… Especially him. She said she loved us both, but she started seeing Greg and I was pushed out of the way. Then she told me they were moving in together. Imagine? Losing your soulmate because of some /man/. That wasn’t even the worst of it…” Pearl had to stop for a few seconds as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue, holding herself as she spoke.

“She got pregnant. I wanted to be happy for her, but I couldn’t. They had a baby boy named Steven but…” Amethyst glanced up at her and saw her struggling with her words.

“She didn’t make it through childbirth. It’s my fault. I wasn’t there for her. I was so mad at Greg that…I ran. I didn’t want to see that baby. And then I got the news a day later…” Pearl trailed off and sobbed, her knees up to her chest and her head on her knees. Amethyst gulped and wrapped an arm around her, unsure of how to react.

“I’m really sorry about that Pearl, I know how much it hurts to lose someone you love.” Pearl glanced up from her knees to her.

“Really?” She nodded.

“Yeah. I used to have a cousin, Carnelian, we were best buds. We were practically joined at the hip. Up until we were teenagers. I was struggling with my mental health so I distanced myself from her. Next thing you know I got a letter from her saying she’d joined the army. She’d wanted to do that for a while, she was so strong. Anyway…we sent mail to each other as often as we could, but one day…it stopped. Then I got an official letter from the army saying she’d been killed in action. I was crushed.” Pearl wrapped her arms around Amethyst and they braced each other silently for a few moments, Pearl still crying and Amethyst remembering the fond moments of her and her cousin. Once she felt Pearl’s breathing return to normal, Amethyst cracked a smile.

“This has certainly been a productive study session, I learnt a lot about engineering today. “Pearl tutted but couldn’t help but smile, pulling away from the hug and blowing her nose. 

“I’m not giving up on you that easily! Get ready to learn everything there is to know.” Amethyst smirked and rolled her eyes.

“And here I was thinking I’d got out of studying for the day.” 

 

Amethyst lay on Pearl’s bed with a pencil in her mouth as Pearl read from a textbook, solving equations on a whiteboard that for some reason she had lying about in her room.

“And then if you calculate- Hey Amethyst, are you even paying attention?” Amethyst looked up and shook her head cheekily.

“Nope.” Pearl frowned and placed the book on a nearby table.

“And why not?”

“I’m distracted.” Pearl sighed, arching a brow.

“By what?”

“You.” Amethyst couldn’t help but stare at the woman who was attempting to tutor her. She had an athletic dancers body, her hair was pristinely cut, her eyes large and soft (as were her lips she suspected), and she couldn’t but stare at her perky butt. 

Pearl was mostly speechless before perching at the bottom of the bed.

“You’re not going to learn anything today, are you?”

“Nope!” Amethyst grinned and sat up on the bed, throwing her pencil on the floor.

“Let’s play a game!” Pearl eyed her suspiciously.

“What game?”

“Truth or dare, duh! That way we can get to know each other really well.” At first Pearl was about to shut the idea down, but it did start to sound quite interesting. Also, she knew Amethyst would never make her do anything she wasn’t comfortable with.

“…Fine. But I’m starting! Truth or dare?” Amethyst mulled this question over like it was the million-dollar question on who wants to be a millionaire, before answering, 

“Dare. And don’t go easy on me!” Pearl hummed in thought as she tried to think of something dastardly to choose.

“I dare you to…pick your nose and eat it!” Amethyst arched a brow and stuck a finger up her nose, then eating it. Pearl grimaced at that.

“Pft, amateur hour P. My turn! Truth…or dare?” 

“Truth.” 

“What colour are your panties?” Pearl couldn’t help but blush at that, glancing away. Amethyst wasn’t that interested, but she knew it would fluster her. 

“Uh…white, I think?” Her face was bright red and Amethyst couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Truth or dare, Amethyst?” 

“Truth me.” Now it was Pearl’s turn to get back at her.   
“What’s your biggest secret?” Amethyst had to stop for a moment and think. She was open about everything so finding a secret was difficult.

“Uh…. that I don’t like ice cream much?” Amethyst gulped, realising her current secret was that she was crushing hard on someone…someone who happened to be facing her right now. Pearl tutted.

“That’s a lie. You get a forfeit for lying!” Amethyst fake gasped and grinned.

“Woah man, alright. What’s my forfeit?” 

“You have to…kiss me.” Pearl didn’t think Amethyst would do it, after all they didn’t know each other that well. Although Pearl did think Amethyst had a charming personality and gorgeous figure, she expected nothing to come from it. However, she was surprised when the shorter girl leaned forward, pressing her lips against Pearl’s and parting her mouth slightly. Although shocked, Pearl certainly wasn’t against this. Their tongues danced together intensely for quite a few moments before Amethyst pulled away. Her cheeks were red but she didn’t seem embarrassed. 

“Woah.” Amethyst muttered, running a hand through her hair. Pearl seemed speechless for a moment before clearing her throat. 

“Well. I, uh, would you like to stay for tea? It’s getting late and…” Amethyst grinned.

“Yeah I’ll stay. I hope you’re a good cook, P!” 

Pearl nodded and rushed downstairs, her cheeks hot.

Amethyst pulled her phone and texted Vidalia some kissy lips and a thumb up. Vidalia read the message and replied with love heart eyes and a question mark. Amethyst ignored that message.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Carnelian, lol.   
> Also this is not my best work but I rly wanted to update this fic so there ya go.

**Author's Note:**

> overdone coffeeshop au idk  
> "i buy my hot chocolate with cinnamon whenever i feel bad and the cute barista starts drawing little pictures on my cup to make me smile and it always works so i come on days when i don’t actually feel sad AU"


End file.
